I have noticed that it’s time to have a Spring clean. Not in the house (although…), but online.
I’m pretty sure that I’ve blogged about this before (yes, here we are), but those little annoyances on Facebook and Twitter which you can ignore on a day to day basis can subconsciously mount up and you get to a point where actually, it’s just better to unfollow, mute, unfriend, block or otherwise rid your platforms of those individuals who are the repeated culprits.
Preserve your sanity and make each day just a little better.
I’m talking about those people who post on a single subject (it’s usually politics, but anything goes) to the exclusion of everything else. Now, please note that I’m not necessarily throwing anyone out based on their political views. I’m not one of those people who requires the perfect echo chamber to be able to use social media. I like the occasionally thought-provoking posts from those with different viewpoints, even when I don’t agree with them.
Equally, I’m always happy to see people validate my point of view. Of course I am. We all are.
But if you are posting n times daily solely about any one topic: be it Brexit or Cyril or Football or Covid, and nothing else, then I’m afraid* it’s goodbye.
I’m talking about those people who enter those “competitions” to “win” a car or a holiday. The ones where “last week’s winner, Becky R, wasn’t eligible to win the Land Rover Discovery because she was underage”. Never mind that the page didn’t even exist last week and you’ve just voluntarily supplied them with all your personal information to sell on. Muppets.
I love the reaction when a certain quizmaster calls them out on it:
Yeah, I know it’s not real, but what if it is?
wut?
If you are wondering why on earth those (mainly) Nigerian phishing schemes:
Hi Dear,
You have a donation of $3,800,000.00 ( 3 million and eight hundred thousand dollars).
My name is Richard Wahl from united states. I won America lottery worth $533 million and I am donating a portion of it to 10 lucky people and a few Orphanage homes as a memorandum of goodwill to humanity. Kindly get back me via Email for more info.
are still ongoing, it’s because of people like these.
Goodbye.
And finally, I’m talking about those people posting cryptic statuses simply to elicit attention. The ones like:
Oh no. I can’t believe it’s happened again!
or
Just got the greatest news!
These are just passive-aggressive cries of “Notice Me! Me! Me!”.
If it was so bad, why not tell us about it up front – or not at all? If it was so good, why not tell us about it up front – or not at all?
Yep. I know that I’m the one following you** suggesting that I am at least mildly interested in your life, but either tell me or don’t. I’m really not going to put in the time and effort to dig deeper only to find that your toaster is on the blink for the second time this year or that your local Pick n Pay have stock of your favourite sort of rooibos tea. (Please note that (however puerile it might seem), I would have no issue with you simply telling me that your toaster was broken or your tea was in stock – it’s the “mysterious” way you choose to do it that’s the problem here.)
No. Spare me.
And so, if you should fall into any of the above categories, you’re likely to find yourself expunged from my social media life in the very near future. I wouldn’t put up with it in real life, so why should I accept it online?
I’d like to say that it’s nothing personal, although of course, it very clearly is.
Cheerio!
* this is merely a figure of speech: I’m not actually afraid at all
** although not for much longer